Favourite developer this generation?

[karloss01]

From Software, Platinum Games, Gearbox Software, Mojang, Re-Logic, Kojima Productions, High Moon studios, Relic Entertainment, Sonic Team and Rocksteady Studios.

and the reasons why I like them.

Demon's Souls
Dark Souls
Armored Core IV
Bayonetta (and most likely Bayonetta 2)
Anarchy Reigns
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Borderlands
Borderlands 2
Minecraft
Terraria
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker
Transformers: War for Cybertron
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 (including the expansions Chaos Rising and Retribution)
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
Sonic Generations
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman: Arkham City

 

[TheEvilCheese]

1. Best overall: It's got to be Valve. I don't even play TF2 anymore but I have immense respect for what they've done since steam launched all those years ago. While HL3 is most likely vaporware, valve always come across as friendly and understanding of their customers while pushing out several games I have loved. They're now trying to promote Linux as a viable alternative for gaming, and while the going is slow it's a great- possibly vital- thing to do. The amount of time they spend producing free content...

2. Best gameplay: Hard choice; Could go to Valve because Portal 1&2 were pretty much the defining games of the generation while not being all about murdering people. Yeah, it's got to be valve. DOTA 2 and TF2 are the most played PC multiplayer games of this generation for a damn good reason, and it's not the hats. Also counter-strike. And they've done stuff like left4dead, which wasn't amazing but certainly a solid and fun experience. The continued quality of their work is beyond impressive when lined up against almost any other studio.

3. Most enthralling world. This encompasses the writing and backstory as well as presentation. Probably going to Valve again to be honest, I reaaaly liked the writing behind portal 1&2. I find it very difficult to fault them. Otherwise it'd go to Obsidian. New vegas- and more importantly the DLC- are some of the most immersive hours I can remember, being totally sucked in to the world despite the problems. And there are problems.


So.. turns out I'm a massive valve fanboy. huh. Funny that. Aside from Portal I'm not a massive fan of anything they've made (I've spent my share of time on 2fort though). That said, they are the most consistently high quality dev that springs to mind and while Valve time is an oft humorous thing they have actually put out a lot of content since the orange box (the best deal in gaming pre humble bundle IMO)

If it were games I've enjoyed most I'd be giving the award to Nintendo as usual. Followed by Bethesda, blizzard and Bioware. A developer is far more than just that to me though.

 

[Samus Aran but a man]

Either Nintendo EAD Tokyo (Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2) or Naughty Dog (The Last of Us, Uncharted 2)

 

[IronMit]

I will have to pick Naughty Dog.

I had 2 incredible unique experiences with Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us


Special shout out to Bethesda (Fallout 3), Kojima (MGS4), Eidos Montreal (Deus ex hr), Bioware (ME1,2)

 

[Strelok]

Even though PC does not have generations I will bite, I think GSC Game World for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. 4A for the Metro 2033 games, Naughty Dog for Uncharted and The Last of Us. Action Games for Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason, one of the best psychological horror I have ever played. Irrational Games for BioShock and BioShock: Infinite.

 

[Strazdas]

Seeing as this generation has only just started, ask me again when it has ended & I'll tell you.

you are wrong. this generation is ending. it will end with the release of new consoles. and the next one will start at that time. currently it has not started yet.

...and the Wii U is what, exactly?

WiiU is the early starter of then ext generation that has very low sales and is insignificant enough not to roll over the generation tide.
we could say It is the last generation if your a Nintendo-only player, but thats about as far as your logic goes to.

 

[Lygus]

No doubt the award goes to CD PROJEKT RED and their commitment for free DLCs, free content delivered with Enhanced Editions (free OSTs, artworks, etc), staying as an independent company and having balls to stand for their business ethics. Next dev to them - Bohemia Interactive.

I see many people/fanboys don't understand what makes a particular company great. It's not about games or their past ONLY, it's about how they treat customers, do they have courage to stay independent or sell themselves to fucktard-run corporations like EA or Activision. That's the basic concept, anyway.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

WiiU is the early starter of then ext generation that has very low sales and is insignificant enough not to roll over the generation tide.
we could say It is the last generation if your a Nintendo-only player, but thats about as far as your logic goes to.

Whether you deem the sales "significant" or not, the Wii U is the next Nintendo console after the Wii, making it very much a part of the 8th generation of consoles.

Therefore, the 8th console generation started with it.

 

[his1nightmare]

Retro Studios: Because they're the best.
Runic Games: Because they're even better.

 

[Strazdas]

WiiU is the early starter of then ext generation that has very low sales and is insignificant enough not to roll over the generation tide.
we could say It is the last generation if your a Nintendo-only player, but thats about as far as your logic goes to.

Whether you deem the sales "significant" or not, the Wii U is the next Nintendo console after the Wii, making it very much a part of the 8th generation of consoles.

Therefore, the 8th console generation started with it.

just because there is one next-gen console with poor sales (nintendo said they are poor themselves) released does not make it the next generation. Most people still use old generation, so it is still old generation. I never said WiiU(ourself) is not the 8the generation, merely said that one small 8th generation console does not turn the whole genearation.
the CD generation started with release of first CDs, however people were still considering it generation of casettees for years till CDs took the majority.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

just because there is one next-gen console with poor sales (nintendo said they are poor themselves) released does not make it the next generation. Most people still use old generation, so it is still old generation. I never said WiiU(ourself) is not the 8the generation, merely said that one small 8th generation console does not turn the whole genearation.
the CD generation started with release of first CDs, however people were still considering it generation of casettees for years till CDs took the majority.

Sales have nothing to do with it, nor does the amount of lasting power the Wii U has. As it was with the Wii, the 7th generation of home video game consoles started with it, then followed by the Xbox 360 and the PS3. Those were the big three of the 7th console generation.

When the Wii U was released, it began the 8th console generation. Now comes the Xbox One and the PS4, so the process is sort-of repeating itself all over again. Sure, the Wii U may not seem like a big contender now, but neither did the Wii when it was first released.

Yet that console went on to outsell the Xbox 360 and the PS3 combined.

 

[Strazdas]

just because there is one next-gen console with poor sales (nintendo said they are poor themselves) released does not make it the next generation. Most people still use old generation, so it is still old generation. I never said WiiU(ourself) is not the 8the generation, merely said that one small 8th generation console does not turn the whole genearation.
the CD generation started with release of first CDs, however people were still considering it generation of casettees for years till CDs took the majority.

Sales have nothing to do with it, nor does the amount of lasting power the Wii U has. As it was with the Wii, the 7th generation of home video game consoles started with it, then followed by the Xbox 360 and the PS3. Those were the big three of the 7th console generation.

i completely disagree. It takes more than a release of a console to start new generation. IF this was true to nongamign things we would be living in a SSD generation, table generation (no way those dont use SSD so they cant be, so already we start logical impossibilities), Blue ray generation, 3D generation, Digital generation, basically all of those started more than 5 years ago, but we are not close to be in their generation for most. it takes more than a realease of a consoel to start a new generation. of anything, looking at the specs WiiU is a 7th generation machine released way too late.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

i completely disagree. It takes more than a release of a console to start new generation. IF this was true to nongamign things we would be living in a SSD generation, table generation (no way those dont use SSD so they cant be, so already we start logical impossibilities), Blue ray generation, 3D generation, Digital generation, basically all of those started more than 5 years ago, but we are not close to be in their generation for most. it takes more than a realease of a consoel to start a new generation. of anything, looking at the specs WiiU is a 7th generation machine released way too late.

Hm. When you put it like that, I see your reasoning.

I thank you for the different perspective. I learned something this morning.

 

[CyanideSandwich]

Hm... It's between
- Rocksteady for the Arkham series;
- Ubisoft for loads of different games (most notably the Far Cry and Assassin's Creed franchises); or
- Klei Entertainment for numerous indie titles, including Don't Starve, Shank, and Mark of the Ninja.

 

[Tom_green_day]

Firstly I'll disagree with Beyond Two Souls being called a big game. It's not small, but I wouldn't have heard of it if I wasn't idly watching the E3 coverage when bored. Oh, and Ellen Page is in it.
OT: Bethesda, I love them so much. Fallout 3 is the greatest game ever made to me, and Skyrim is definitely around #3. Probably after that Bioware, the Mass Effect trilogy is a really outstanding one in my opinion.
Or Treyarch. Zombies mode really set the ground on fire regarding CoD, and they've been going from strengh to strengh in CoD circles with great multiplayer and actually interesting campains with some depth.

 

[aguspal]

Gearbox...


But really, its mainly because they have little to no competition at all, since Borderlands 2 is pretty much one of the VERY few AAA titles I enjoined despiste its several flaws...



And I dont give a shit about the whole A:CM thing, if anything I think its funny to see people rage XD.

 

[AuronFtw]

Intelligence Works for Fire Emblem: Awakening, that game was magnificent, gotta check out the rest of the series.

Rest of the series is significantly worse. FE:A was far and away the best of them, graphically and mechanically. It ripped the plot off an earlier one in the series, but improved most other aspects of gameplay.

You will very, very quickly grow tired of the old ones though. Fog maps hiding enemies so you get instakilled from the darkness, weapon degradation with no skills like Armsthrift to stop them from losing charges, very few optional levels (sometimes none at all), hilarious class imbalance/viability issues (I don't think archers/snipers have ever been truly viable as a unit), etc.

FE7 and FE8 have a number of fans, but most of them have some serious nostalgia goggles on. Those games were ass in a can. Decent for the time, although not as good as FFTA from the same era and nowhere near as deep (for example, FFTA had far fewer completely trash classes).

 

[OpticalJunction]

Arenanet.

Guild Wars informs me I have sunk 3863 hours into it. That is most likely more than Fallout 3 and Skyrim put together which would be my second with Bethesda.

Same. That reminds me i've been wanting to get back into gw2.